Metal Slug: Mercenaries
by Lt Colonel Summers
Summary: Trouble is brewing once again, originating from the old enemies of the Regular Army. But this time, Regular Army Command have new tricks up their sleeves: New batches of mercenaries with statistics rivaling the original commandos. However, things soon goes on a serial escalation for both the original commandos and the Mercenaries...
1. Prologue

**Forewords**

Hey, guys!

Some of you might recognize me from the Fanfiction archives for _Touhou Project_, as the guy who writes the _Fantasy Blitzkrieg _series.

If not, well...

Let me introduce myself then. The name's Lieutenant Colonel Summers, but you can call me LT. I'm a geek when it comes to military stuffs, and the _Metal Slug Series _created by SNK Playmore has been one of my favorite games. SNK submitted their last entry of the games in the form of _Metal Slug XX_, and stopped after that. I've thought they have abandoned the franchise until they released _Metal Slug Defense_ for mobile devices in the year 2014. Glad to know that they haven't forgotten the series...

For those of you new to _Metal Slug_, its a series of side-scrolling platformer plus shoot'em up made by the same team who made the _King Of Fighters_ series. The games are about a government-controlled military force known as the Regular Army, fighting a band of rogue Nazi-like militants known as the Rebelllion - or Rebel Army. The game is named after the Super Vehicle-001, also known as the Metal Slug, a tank capable of feats not seen in real-life army vehicles.

According to informations given by SNK, the Rebels started life when their leader, Donald Morden blames the Regular Army for a botched anti-terrorist operation that took the life of his son. The former Regular general defects from them and is never heard of again. A year later, Morden resurfaced, running an entire regime known as the Rebel Army, and plans to cleanse world governments of political corruption by taking over the world.

The Regular Army spent the entire series fighting the Rebels, with an exception for several games where the plot is hijacked by the Martians in _Metal Slug 2/X _and_ 3_, the Amadeus Syndicate in _4_, the Venusians in _6_ (whom managed to hijack the Martians as well) and Oguma Industries in the Japan-only _Metal Slug 3D_. The only game where the Rebels does not have any appearance at all is _Metal Slug 5_, where the plot revolves around the much more dangerous Ptolemaic Army.

As for the actual plotlines of each game, you should check out the Metal Slug Wiki or look up the series on Wikipedia.

This is my first _Metal Slug_ fanfic. _Metal Slug_ and all related characters and entities belong to SNK Playmore. That's it then, hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong><span>Prologue<span>**

Time: Year 2040 AD. Exact time unknown.

Location: Undisclosed.

A man in his late fifties stood in the middle of a pitch-black hallway, with only the cigar in his mouth as a source of light.

The man took a puff of the cigar, and just stood there, as though waiting for someone.

Just then, he sensed a presence approaching him in the pitch-black hallway.

"How is everything going, Mr President?" The presence asked the man with a stern voice.

The man took the cigar off his mouth, and breathed out a puff of smoke. The presence is not fazed one bit by this act. "Exactly as planned by you." The man, identified as a President of some sort, answered, not so sternly. "Just one more year, and you will have what you wanted..."

"Do you remember what I wanted, Mr President?" The presence asked, hidden by the shadows well enough that he might as well be one with the darkness.

"Of course, it's the perfect template that you wanted." The President answered. He decided he had enough of his cigar, and extinguished it before putting it back in his pocket.

"Then I will see you again in an unspecified future." The presence said. The sound of footsteps growing softer and softer indicates that he is leaving the pitch-black hallway. "Remember: do whatever it takes to perfect the perfect templates..."

...

Time: 29th of December, 2040.

Location: Somewhere above the Pacific.

The peaceful sunny skies of the Pacific Ocean was disturbed by a massive object falling from the stratosphere at a velocity matching a spacecraft in orbital reentry. The object is, however, not suffering any effects at all despite its surface scraping the Earth's atmosphere fast enough to light it ablaze.

Closer inspection reveals that the object is in fact, a creature of gargantuan size, with a pair of slender, three-fingered arms attached to an alien head that has an exposed brain. Held between its slender fingers are two Metal Slugs.

There were also a group of people fighting the huge creature. Some standing on its demonic face, some taking potshots at its exposed brain in Mini-UFOs.

"It's about time we sent these goddamned Martians to extinction!" Cursed a blond-haired man in the red vest, unloading his Heavy Machine Gun into the huge creatures brain.

The other humans were too busy attacking the creature to respond. While most of them were shooting at it with their guns, one man was literally punching its exposed brain with impossibly fast punches.

The huge creature had the disadvantage of too few variety of attacks, one of which is a mind blast takes a while to charge up. The disadvantage prove to be its demise when its brain exploded into a mess of grey matter after being attacked continuously. The creature roared in pain and stopped all movements, as the humans standing on its face quickly boarded the tanks it held before it released them.

The Metal Slugs and Mini-UFOs entered a state of free fall while their occupants watched the abomination of a Martian plunge to its watery grave under the Pacific Ocean into the Challenger's Deep undersea ravine. Seconds later, the Metal Slugs landed on the ocean surface alongside the human-occupied Mini-UFOs. Both Metal Slugs deployed their floaters and slowly floated toward the surface, while the Mini-UFOs were abandoned by their human occupants as they swam towards the surface.

The Metal Slugs broke the surface with a loud splash. The rest of the team regrouped on the floating tanks, tired of all the actions and adventures of the past few days.

"Well, looks like Rootmars is sleeping with the fishes, again."

"Sure hoped this is the last alien race that mankind has ever fought..."

"Yeah, if there are other alien races out there, they better leave us to our own business!"

"So much for aliens, but we still have General Morden and the Rebel Army to deal with..."

"Not to mention the possibility of the Amadeus Syndicate and the Ptolemaic Army resurfacing."

As the human commandos chatted with each other, they suddenly find themselves being disturbed by the arrival of a blue Chinook transport helicopter.

"Perengine Falcons, SPARROWS, and Ikari Mercenaries, good job on this mission! You have once again saved the Earth from destruction!" The pilot of the helicopter greeted the commandos.

"Nah, that's every year of our lives. This one's nothing..." Said the blond-haired commando with the red vest.

"Let's do a head count to make sure everyone's here." The helicopter pilot said. "First off: Marco Rossi."

"Here."

"Tarma Roving."

"Present."

"Eri Kasamoto."

"Also present..."

"Fiolina Germi."

"Over here~!"

"Nadia Cassel."

"Here!"

"Trevor Spacey."

Getting no response, the pilot looked at the commandos through the helicopter windshield. Trevor Spacey seems to be busy... laughing himself off in a boastful manner.

"I'll take that as a yes. Next one: Clark Still."

"Right here."

"Ralf Jones."

Ralf Jones announced his presence by punching the Metal Slug hard enough to dislodge one of its Vulcan guns.

"Okay, that's coming out of your wallet..." The pilot deadpanned. "Last one: Leona."

"..." Leona, the blue-haired Ikari Mercenary made no response.

"Ah, forget it..." The pilot told himself. "Ready to go home?"

**FINAL MISSION COMPLETE!**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Afterwords<span>**

That's it for the prologue, then. Ending with the permanent defeat of the Martians and Rootmars. That battle is basically a recreation from _Metal Slug 3_, except that Trevor and Nadia from _4_, Clark and Ralf from _6_, and Leona from _XX_ are also in it. I might just include Walter and Tyra from _Advance_, and Gimlet and Red Eye from _2nd Mission._

That's it then. Look forward to the next chapter of this fanfic!

If you recognize me from that other Fanfiction archive, you will know that I'm prone to making references to other medias.

That is all. _"Dismissed!"_


	2. Chapter 1: Old Foes, New Countermeasures

**Foreword**

An empty Forewords section to start off a new series.

How lame...

Wish I get this problem fixed from my mind...

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter 1: Old Foes, New Countermeasures<span>**

Time: 0800 Hour; 30th of December, 2040.

Location: Boot Camp, Regular Army Command; Virginia, United States.

A Regular Soldier climbed up a watchtower, scanned the vicinity with a binocular, and then grabbed a nearby trumpet which he blows with. The notes of the trumpet are annoying for anyone listening to it, more so for those who were woken up from their sleep by it.

"Hey, you!" Yelled another soldier from the sole window of a nearby bunker. "SHUT UP!" Shouting, he aimed and fired a Super Grenade at the watchtower where the offending sound is coming from.

The Regular Soldier with the trumpet was spooked by this, and jumped off the watchtower just before the Super Grenade struck and blew it up in a spectacular fireball.

The soldier with the Super Grenade then laid back on his bunk bed, attempting to catch some more Z.

...

Location: Mess Hall, Regular Army Command.

"What a lame way to celebrate New Years Eve..." complained Marco Rossi, sitting next to a table, slowly stirring the bowl of cereal in front of him. "It's only yesterday that we ended the Martians for good, but Morden and his goons got away again!"

Tarma Roving leaned against the door. "But at least that's one enemy we won't be seeing ever again..." Said the Japanese commando.

However, Tarma didn't expect anyone to be able to open the door when he is leaning against it. He got squashed against the wall as a result. A familiar face came from the other side of the door.

"Besides, you do know that today isn't New Years Eve, tomorrow is..." Eri Kasamoto told Marco with a deadpan tone.

"How can you be so oblivious to what day it is, Marco?" Fiolina Germi barged in and complained.

Poor Tarma is still stuck behind that door, unable to move one bit. "Guys? Need some help here..."

"We better hurry..." Eri pointed a thumb behind her. "HQ called us all for emergency briefing..."

...

Location: Visitor Waiting Hall, Regular Army Command.

"And this year's Best K-Pop Band Award goes to..." Said the TV announcer from a TV in the Visitor Waiting Hall.

"Super Junior! Yeah!" Trevor Spacey announced on his own out of excitement.

Unfortunately, the true answer was something completely different than what the white-haired South Korean gave.

"Girls' Generation!" The TV announcer said.

"WHAT THE HECK?!" Trevor practically spat his heart out in surprise. "NOOOOOOO!" He screamed in massive disappointment, and head-butted the TV so hard that the screen shattered. Trevor didn't try to get up, as he continued crying so much that his tears are pouring out of his eyes like waterfalls.

"Not so suh-weet, _non_?" Nadia Cassel stood behind the South Korean while face-palming. "You East Asians kept forgetting that the biggest threat to you all is North Korea..."

"Ah leas ther nodin compar too deh Ish..." Trevor responded while continued crying in front of the broken TV. But he stopped and got up just for the last words in that sentence. "...Islamic State..."

"You better act like a grown-up, because we're being called for an emergency briefing!"

...

Location: Ikari Mercenaries' Private Training Hall, Regular Army Command.

Ralf Jones was focused on attacking a punching bag with his signature Vulcan Punch, followed by the Galactic Phantom. However, he punched the punching bag so hard that it was propelled with enough velocity to smash through a wall and collapse it. Ralf did not seem to notice, as he did the victory pose he was known for in the _King Of Fighters_ Tournaments.

"Uh, that's coming out of your wallet again, friend..." Clark Still reminded him, as he did his Super Argentine Backbreaker on another punching bag that has the photo of Rugal Bergenstein taped to it. The punching bag went toward the ceiling, but stopped short of hitting a ceiling fan before coming back down.

Just then, the PA went live. "Attention, Ikari Mercenaries, please report to the Command Center for immediate emergency briefing."

Both Ralf and Clark turned toward the speaker where the PA announcement came from.

"I guess the wall can wait, Morden's up to something again..." Clark said.

"What about Leona?" Ralf wondered, since the woman in question is absent from the Training Hall.

"Said she's got a hunch this morning that we're all going to be called in for another mission, so she went to the Command Center first." Clark replied. "Let's go. Rugal can also wait..."

...

Five minutes later...

Location: Command Center, Regular Army Command.

"As you can see, Ladies and gentlemen..." The Regular Commandos were not surprised with suddenly meeting a new Commanding Officer, since the previous one retired after the previous mission. What surprised them that the new CO isn't a human, its an AI. "Satellite imagery got hold of a new Rebel facility being built in San Francisco, with what used to be the Alcatraz Prison serving as the entrance. We don't know what Morden and his goons are up to, but it is imperative that whatever it is down there be captured or destroyed"

"Typical for the Rebels..." Marco gave a simple comment.

"However, this mission, and perhaps those to follow, are no slouch on the couch. We've got good news and bad news for you..." The AI CO continued its briefing. "Good news are - Intelligence is able to confirm, with a hundred percent positivity that Donald Morden is definitely in that facility. The facility is also one-way-in one-way-out. Geographical scans indicates the complete lack of secret tunnels, which means that Morden won't be able to escape when cornered."

"Finally, that bastard has no way to escape! Catching him should be no problem. "Tarma said. "After we deal with whatever he's building down there, of course."

"But that's when the bad news come in..." The AI CO interrupted with no tone of annoyance in its recorded speech. "Aside from the aforementioned one-way-in one-way-out making your own returning outside difficult, Intelligence is also positive that the Rebels have pledged their allegiance with the Amadeus Syndicate _and_ the Ptolemaic Army. The leaders of those two factions will want _your_ heads after your first encounter with either."

"Why do I get the feeling that this mission is entirely luck-based?" Eri had her suspicion with the mission.

"To make matters worse, both Morden and Amadeus have specifically dared you all, and I mean _you all_ to come and try to fight them." The AI CO continued, again with no tone of worriedness in its speech. "It's like they had this cooperative project just to deal with you guys..."

Upon hearing the last part, the whole group became tense. Fio tightened her grip on her teddy bear, whereas Trevor and Nadia bumped into each other while running around in panic. The Ikari Mercenaries, Ralf, Clark and Leona remained calm about the situation.

"I don't care what surprises he has for us!" Ralf boasted as he cracked his fists.

"We shall kick his ass!" Clark joined in with the boasting, as he kicked a nearby shelf to demonstrate his fearlessness. In doing so, the mercenary in blue had spilled the contents of that shelf, one of which is a (thankfully fake) Iron Lizard missile car.

Leona, the typical deadpan she is, let out a sigh in embarrassment of her teammates.

"But the Regular Army will respond to challenges with more than the challenger bargained for!" The AI CO announced. "Which is why you will be accompanied by the elites of the Regular Army."

"The elites?" Trevor and Nadia got up from bumping into each other, and asked in unison.

"Yes. The elite commandos are themselves Mercenaries, just like the Ikari Mercenaires, but better than all of you combined even while they have a smaller group."

Both Clark and Ralf are disappointed when they heard of a group of Mercenaries that are better than themselves.

Leona seems to look forward to meeting them. "What do they call themselves?"

"These elite Mercenaries, who will be accompanying you in bringing the Rebel-Amadeus-Ptolemaic Joint Forces down, are called..." The AI CO, reaching the end of its pre-programmed speech, spat out four last words. "...The Red Eagles Squad..."

...

Undisclosed Location...

"Jenny dear, you got the message from Regular Army Command?"

"Yes, Jason dear. They want the four of us to help the originals in fighting the Rebels..."

"Plus the Amadeus Syndicate and the Ptolemaic Army, all three at once! Right, Mina?"

"Just because I'm a Japanese doesn't mean I'm an otaku. So let's go, Ash~!"

* * *

><p><strong><span>Afterwords<span>**

Surprised? The Rebel Army, Amadeus Syndicate and Ptolemaic Army teamed up _just to deal with the original commandos!_

Okay, maybe not surprising to most of you, but you can just see how desperate those three factions were, after getting their arrogant ass kicked multiple times with a dose of **Heavy Masheen Gun!** or **Rocket Lawnchair!**.

Anyways, the original commandos are not the protagonists this time around, the Red Eagles are.

Do note that while the Red Eagles are Original Characters, they are not my creations. Credit goes to MadSoldiersProduction who, while doesn't have an account on this website, used the Red Eagles in a series of sprite-based Web Comics called _Metal Slug History X_ in his own website. Thanks, MadSoldier!

Shout-out index:

"SHUT UP!" ***Super Grenade!*** - A random Regular Soldier getting almost blown up trying to wake up everyone came from MegaAuthor's lists of Running Gags in his stories. Thanks, mate!

"NOOOO!" - Trevor getting disappointed at Super Junior not getting any awards came from _The Robot Conspiracy_ by AR Studios. Thank, mate!

That is all. _"Dismissed!"_


	3. Chapter 2: The Red Eagles Squad

**Forewords**

From this chapter on, each chapter will contain the events of an entire level from the starting point to the main boss.

There will be mini-bosses in each and every mission...

...And the bosses of the original games will be powered up.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter 2: The Red Eagles Squad<span>**

Time: 0930 Hour; 30th of December, 2040.

Location: San Francisco, United States.

The Regular Commandos arrived in the city of San Francisco in a modified Chinook transport helicopter, which was often nicknamed "Regular Hi-Do" due to its uncanny resemblance to Donald Morden's personal helicopter.

The Regular Commandos looked down on the streets of San Francisco, which was crawling with Rebel Soldiers and their vehicles.

"No signs of the Amadeus Syndicate, or the Ptolemaic Army." Marco said, while loading a full magazine into his handgun.

"But then again, they started this joint campaign just to deal with us..." Tarma reminded his partner.

The Regular Chinook is suddenly disturbed by turbulence, indicating that another aircraft is flying close to it.

The Peregrine Falcons took a look at the newly arrived aircraft. They knew what it was, for they have seen it before.

"That's... the Tetsuyuki!" Eri acknowledged.

"But the report indicates that it was destroyed in the First Morden War!" Fio added to the exclamation.

Without warnings, the Tetsuyuki deployed its starboard guns, and opened fire on the Regular Commandos. The energy shells fired by the Rebel gunship mostly missed the Chinook, but one lucky shot had struck the side of the helicopter, causing it to release smoke.

"If we don't kill that thing first, it will kill us!" Marco said, as he got hold of a Rocket Launcher.

With precision aiming, Marco fired the Rocket Launcher at the Tetsuyuki. The projectile hits, and inflamed the starboard wing of the gunship, forcing it to crash land.

Seeing the Tetsuyuki crash-landing made the Regular Commandos breathe a sigh of relief.

"This is suh-weet, _non._" Nadia said in excitement, wanting to get back into action.

"Careful, you might just get what you asked for..." Trevor warned the French girl, knowing what she's thinking.

Yet another disturbance, this time by a Hairbuster Riberts. The Rebel heavy bomber opened its rear hatch, and standing over it was Donald Morden...

...Or rather, a robotic facsimile of the Devil Rebirth, which Marco, Fio, Trevor and Nadia have also seen before.

"I'm guessing that's one of those Morden Robots that this Amadeus guy used for his own agenda years ago..." Ralf noted.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Clark also noted, having a frown on his face.

Before another word could be spoken, the Morden Robot on the Hairbuster Riberts fired its bazooka at the Chinook. This time the helicopter is damaged enough to force a crash land.

...

The Red Eagles Squad have their own transport too: a modified Rebel Landseek with a tarp covering its back, and drawn on the tarp was the Red Eagles' emblem.

Even while on the streets of the city, the Red Eagles can still see the Regular Commandos' Chinook being shot down, and crash landing in another section of the city.

"The Regular Commandos needs us!" Said Jason Wayne.

"Floor it, girls!" Ash Kingslayer told the female members of the Red Eagles who are driving the Landseek.

"You might want to tighten your seatbelts, or hold on to something, boys!" Jenny Wakeman responded, before she floored the pedals, sending the Landseek on a high speed drive.

"Ah, slow down! This is too fast!" Mina Kabuto panicked with the sudden burst of speed, and held on to her purple cap as tight as she could.

...

_**Mission Briefing**_

_Good Day, Red Eagles. I believe you've known about the Regular Army's war with the Rebel Army for the past decades. Well, their leader, Donald Morden has just started another campaign, but this one wasn't to take over the world, capture a piece of advanced technology, create weapons of mass destruction, or pick a bone with the Regular Army. This time, the Rebels are specifically targeting the Peregrine Falcons, SPARROWS Operatives and Ikari Mercenaries, and to make matter harder, they have allied themselves with two other factions respectively known as the Amadeus Syndicate and the Ptolemaic Army._

_So here's your mission: you will be sent to San Francisco alongside the Regular Commandos, to assist them in clearing the waves of Rebel-Amadeus-Ptolemaic Joint Forces from San Francisco, and then make your way to Alcatraz Island and destroy whatever machinery that the enemies have made specifically to deal with the Regular Commandos, and then apprehend Morden. Take note, that since their various defeats in the past, the enemies have wised up, and are using better strategies. So expect to fall into a situation where you are given no room to dodge enemy fires._

_Side note, for all future references, the Rebel-Amadeus-Ptolemaic Joint Forces will be now referred to as the RAP Army._

_..._

_Change of plans. The RAP Army were expecting the Regular Commandos, and their transport helicopter was shot down in an ambush. Find them before the RAP Army gets to them, and take out the Hairbuster Riberts if you have the opportunity._

_That is all. Godspeed..._

...

**MISSION ONE START!**

The Landseek came to an abrupt halt that almost launched its occupants forward with momentum.

"Next time, I'll rather take it easy..." Said Jason, trying to withhold the urge to puke.

"Agreed, buddy." Ash said in response, also resisting the urge to puke.

Up ahead, a Rebel Soldier who was in the middle of playing _Doom_ on a PSP freaked out upon seeing the Red Eagles' Landseek, and ran off leaving the portable game console behind.

"Looks like the party's about to start!" Jenny noted the situation.

"Here they come!" Mina told the other Red Eagles.

Several Rebel Soldiers arrived, some carrying rifles.

The Red Eagles effortlessly gunned down the Rebel Soldiers with their handguns, despite being outnumbered.

"Ha! Who ever said strength comes in numbers?" Jason boasted, raising his silver revolver in the air.

The mercenary in red was still oblivious to a lone Rebel Fanatic that has snuck up behind him, and the Fanatic was about to backstab him...

...Only for Ash Kingslayer to suddenly turn around and rip the Rebel Fanatic to shreds with his chainsaw. Strangely enough, the resulting blood splatter completely missed the gray-clad chainsaw-totting mercenary. "Laugh at my chainsaw, idiot!" He boasted.

"..." The other Red Eagles said nothing about it, as they took off, leaving Ash behind.

"Hey, wait for me!" Ash noticed, and went after them.

It was only a few steps before the mercenaries came across more Rebel forces. This time, a Rebel Mortar and Rebel Rifleman behind a pile of Sandbags, followed by a lone MH-6J Masknell.

Jason rushed toward the Sandbag and did a Vulcan Punch (his version includes a machete held on one hand), destroying the Sandbag in seconds. The Rebels behind it panicked for a second, and then was swiftly gunned down by the same mercenary before they can shoot back or run away.

The Masknell only got to fire three shots before it was gunned down by Jenny, dropping a **Heavy Machine Gun** in the process.

"I'll be taking this~" Mina said cheerfully, picking up the **Heavy Machine Gun**.

A few seconds later, two more Masknells appeared, followed by a T-2B Melty Honey on parachutes landing on the road behind them.

"Never a moment's rest, eh?" Jason commented on the situation.

Both Masknells are gunned down by Mina's **Heavy Machine gun**, whereas the Melty Honey has its frontal shield ripped apart by Ash's chainsaw. The single missile fired by the Melty Honey was quickly shot out of the air, and then the vehicle was promptly shot at until it explodes. The Rebel manning the vehicle jumped out in time and tried to lunge at the Red Eagles Squad with his knife raised, but finds himself flying into the business end of Jenny's Taser.

"Is this all the Rebels got?" Jenny hung a lamp on the Rebels' poor choice of tactics at the moment.

The Hairbuster Riberts suddenly flew past the Red Eagles, real close to the ground. At the same time, the mercenaries could take a good look at the Morden Robot, which was able to imitate the real Morden's signature annoying laugh.

"Gosh, even if its not the real guy, I find that laugh very annoying!" Ash gave a negative comment about it.

"You can punch him in the face later, Ash-kun." Mina told the grey-clad mercenary. "Right now, we have to find the Regular Commandos."

The Red Eagles continued with their mission, heading toward where the Regular Commandos are last seen.

...

The Red Eagles took a tight turn into another street, only to come face to face with a Girida-O. A second one appeared behind the mercenaries around the same time.

"Okay, I take that back..." Jenny regretted about the lampshading earlier, as the blue-clad female mercenary starts shooting the front Girida-O with her handgun.

Jason did his Vulcan Punch again, ripping the rear Girida-O apart in seconds. The same mini-tank exploded with its turret jumping up when the chassis is already disintegrated. "No armor can stop my fists! Much less so if I have a machete!" Jason boasted, before doing the same to the other one.

But this time, _four_ Girida-Os pulled up and surrounded the Red Eagles.

"Four? I've got a bad feeling about this..." Mina shudders, thinking of the number that is considered unlucky in her mother language.

Two Girida-Os fired upon the mercenaries, whereas two attempted to run them over.

Mina unloaded her **Heavy Machine Gun** into the Girida-Os, but only have enough ammo to destroy two of them before it went dry. The Japanese girl threw the empty weapon away, and used her handgun to continue firing at the enemies.

The remaining two Girida-Os fired another volley of shells at the mercenaries, whom manages to avoid being hit.

"Eat this!" Ash, instead of using his chainsaw, decided to throw a grenade at one of the enemy tanks, blowing it up. He immediately turns around to blow up the other one with another grenade.

Noting that the vicinity is clear, the Red Eagles continued with their trek through the city.

"Some ambush they've got there..." Jason said. "I've read from the reports that the Rebel Girida-Os attacks alone or in pairs, but never before in packs of four."

"So they really did become smarter..." Jenny said in response.

It wasn't very long before they came across a pile of rubble.

"Now climbing over this mess can be messy in itself." Ash commented about the rubble.

"It's probably just me, but does this pile of rubble seems unlikely to be caused by an explosion?" Mina wondered, feeling suspicious about the obstruction ahead.

Suddenly, the rubble exploded, sending debris flying into every direction.

When the dust cleared, two Rebel Soldiers are seen, one standing next to a plunger detonator. Both Rebels freaked out and ran past the structure that was once buried under the rubble.

"Is that..." Jason started an exclamation.

"...The..." Ash continued.

"...TETSUYUKI?!" Both Jenny and Mina ended the exclamation in unison.

**Boss battle: _Tetsuyuki_**

There was no doubt about it. The Tetsuyuki from the First Morden War is back. This time, it has a Missile Turret replacing the Rebel Mortar. Both of its wings are broken this time.

And when the crashed gunship fires its side cannons, it seems to be using the energy mortar _and _the laser cannon at the same time, as opposed to using them in two separate phases.

"Yeah, they did become smarter." Jason said, while evading the laser cannon by crouching. Having to avoid the energy shells at the same time made things harder.

The Red Eagles fired at the Tetsuyuki with their handguns, while the wrecked gunship continues to fire its energy mortar and laser cannon.

Eventually, the Tetsuyuki took enough damage that it started firing its energy mortar non-stop and its laser cannon at shorter intervals. The Missile Turret is still idling, as none of the Red Eagles are close enough to be targeted. At this point, the Red Eagles are throwing as many grenades as they can at the Tetsuyuki, for its attack pattern has become too difficult to predict.

Several grenades later, the Tetsuyuki completely falls apart with several explosions occurring over its hull. The side cannon went off with a rather huge fireball that launched the Rebel Soldier manning the Missile Turret several miles into the air.

_**Tetsuyuki **_**defeated**

"Anyone okay?" Jason asked the others.

"We're okay!" Ash responded. "That was a close one, though..."

"They've upgraded the Tetsuyuki so that it shoots faster." Jenny notes. "That means the Hairbuster Riberts may have been upgraded as well."

"Some challenge the Rebels threw at us!" Mina sulked, as she sat on the ground. "Now I know why Morden and his new friends dared the Regular Commandos specifically..."

...

As the Red Eagles continued their trek, they came across more Rebel Soldiers, along with Rebel Mortars and Rebel Riflemen behind Sandbags.

"Another day, another dead Rebel..."

Just as the mercenaries starts firing at the Sandbags, a Di-Cokka appeared behind the group of Rebels, and starts firing shells.

All it takes to avoid the shots of the Di-Cokka was to crouch. The Red Eagles did not cease firing at the Sandbags.

It takes a while until the Sandbags are destroyed, and the Rebel Mortars and Rebel Riflemen, whom haven't been able to hit the mercenaries, are quickly gunned down.

The Di-Cokka continues to fire shells even though it is rather obvious that it can't hit the crouching mercenaries.

"What an idiot..." Ash commented about the stupidity of whoever's in the tank.

One grenade toss later, the Di-Cokka exploded once, and then immediately explodes again before the driver can escape, leaving behind a **Rocket Launcher** in its wake.

"I'll be taking this." Ash said as he picked up the **Rocket Launcher**.

Taking another few steps, the group soon encountered Rebel Fanatics. Lots of Rebel Fanatics, who proceeds to swarm the Red Eagles from all directions.

The **Rocket Launcher** Ash picked up earlier proves beneficial for it blows up several Rebel Fanatics in one shot, from one direction at a time. Having to turn around for each shot is rather troublesome.

Fortunately, there's four mercenaries here, which means they can cover multiple directions at a time.

One of the Rebel Fanatics jumped down from the rooftops in an attempt to slash his knife at Mina. Unfortunately for him, the Japanese girl whips out her katana and sliced him in half.

"Just stop coming, okay?" Jenny shouted while she continues to gun down Rebel Fanatics, and any one that does gets close to her are introduced to her Taser the hard way.

After several minutes of gunning, the Rebel Fanatics stopped coming. Ash's **Rocket Launcher** is also empty by then.

"Come on, we're almost at the Regular Commandos' crash site!" Jason signaled to the others to go ahead.

As they're nearing a suspended highway with seemingly no enemies in it, the Red Eagles saw where the Regular Army Chinook has crashed, and the Hairbuster Riberts is going there too, with several minutes of headstart.

"We have to hurry!" Ash exclaimed. "The Hairbuster Riberts' about to get to them!"

"We could use those motorcycles!" Mina said, pointing a finger at two bikes conveniently parked there.

"Come on! If that plane gets to them first, they're done for!"

...

Jenny and Mina each took the driver seats of the bikes, with Jason and Ash in the passenger compartment, and gave chase to the Hairbuster Riberts.

**Boss Battle: _Hairbuster Riberts_**

The prototype heavy bomber have decided to engage the Red Eagles in combat, as it got close to them. The same Morden Robot emerged from the rear hatch, this time armed with a bazooka.

Annoyingly enough, the robotic facsimile decided to start off the battle with the Devil Rebirth's infamous laugh.

"Shut up!" Ash shouted at the Morden Robot, and starts firing at the Hairbuster Riberts together with Jason.

The Morden Robot took potshots with its bazooka, while the heavy bomber itself deploys and launches a missile at Jason and Jenny.

Jason quickly guns down the missile, but finds that the missile now frags into several shrapnel as opposed to just exploding.

"That's its upgrade?" Jenny said, while having to avoid the shrapnel.

The Hairbuster Riberts then starts dropping bouncing bombs on the Red Eagles. While Marco and Tarma's first encounter with the heavy bomber has these bombs bounce around in a predictable manner, this version has them _completely random_.

"Whoa!" Mina screamed while struggling to avoid the unpredictable bouncing bombs. So did Jenny.

The heavy bomber proceeds to deploy not one, but two missiles, and launches each of them at the two motorcycles. The missiles, luckily, flew off the bridge and exploded elsewhere.

"I prefer to fight the original!" Jason complained about this version of the Hairbuster Riberts being stronger, as he continues to pump it full of handgun bullets.

Eventually, the Hairbuster Riberts took enough damage that small explosions occurred around it. The Morden Robot's bazooka, at the same time blew up in its face after it bloated in a comical way, leaving it in its true robotic shell with a zombie-like gait. The malfunctioning robot doesn't do anything aside from doing the real Morden's infamous laugh endlessly.

"Dammit!" Ash finally had it enough with the annoying laugh, and decided to throw every grenade he has at the heavy bomber.

The Hairbuster Riberts only got to launch two more missiles before the volley of grenades damages it enough to make it crash land. The Morden Robot's head detaches just before the aircraft crashed, the head falls into Ash's hands.

"Gyah!" The grey-clad mercenary tossed the laughing head off the suspended highway, and then guns it down from midair with his handgun.

**_Hairbuster Riberts _defeated.**

"I guess that's what you get for telling the Devil Rebirth to shut up, even if its not the real one..." Mina told Ash in a deadpan manner.

Jason and Jenny couldn't help but chuckle at the funny scene.

"When I get back from this mission, Imma be a one man cheeseburger apocalypse..."

**MISSION ONE COMPLETE!**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Afterwords<span>**

Took a while, but I'm finally done with this chapter.

Here, the Tetsuyuki uses its energy mortar and laser cannon in conjunction in its first phase, and then the second phase has it fire the energy mortar non-stop. The Hairbuster Riberts fires frag missles, two of them, and its bouncing bombs have completely unpredictable bounce directions, that and Donald Morden/ Allen O'Neil replaced with a Morden Robot.

And that's it: the next chapter of _Metal Slug: Mercenaries_ won't start until I finish the entirety of _Fantasy Blitzkrieg: Mission Two_. So stay tuned for the next update!

Shout-out index:

*That Rebel Soldier with the PSP, playing _Doom_* - No explanations should be needed...

"...Imma be a one man cheeseburger apocalypse..." - No, Jason, don't try to be like Coach from _Left 4 Dead 2_, or else you'll become fat, what's with the gameplay mechanics of _Metal Slug_...

That is all. _"Dismissed!"_


End file.
